Under Hernando Courtright, The Beverly Hills Hotel entered one of its glossiest periods. In 1941, Courtright and some of his friends, including Loretta Young, Irene Dunne and Harry Warner, formed a company that bought the Hotel. Courtright was the one who changed the name of the El Jardin Restaurant to The Polo Lounge in honor of the celebrity band of polo players, including Will Rogers, Darryl Zanuck, Spencer Tracy and Tommy Hitchcock, who played their matches in the bean fields near the Hotel and toasted their victories at the restaurant afterward.

Marlene Dietrich was often at the bar of The Polo Lounge, and changed the “No slacks for ladies” rule one day when she appeared at the bar in pants. Dietrich, a frequent guest, came to regard Bungalow 11 as hers, and had a seven-by-eight foot bed constructed for it.

Howard Hughes also took up residence in four of the Hotel bungalows beginning in 1942: one for him, one for his actress wife Jean Peters and two as decoys. Number 4 was his favorite. Off and on for 30 years, the reclusive billionaire lived in splendid isolation at the Hotel, ordering pineapple upside-down cakes from his personal chef at 3 a.m. and having roast beef sandwiches delivered to the trunk of a tree in the garden, so he could fetch them without seeing a soul. On occasion, he could be seen dancing with young starlets in the Persian Room, later named the Sunset Room.

Humphrey Bogart knocked back drinks at The Polo Lounge, and Katharine Hepburn once dove fully clothed into the pool after a tennis game.

Toward the end of the decade, The Beverly Hills Hotel had its first major facelift. In 1947, Courtright opened the Crystal Room and the Lanai Restaurant (later named The Coterie). The exterior was painted its distinctive pink in 1948. In 1949, architect Paul Revere Williams designed the Hotel’s new addition, the Crescent Wing, and oversaw the redecoration of The Polo Lounge, The Fountain Coffee Shop, and lobby in the distinctive pink and green motifs of today.